Got hit by a Gust yesterday on the beach, I was not hooked in and was fully depowered - nevertheless I got yanked up 5m before managing to think about letting go - it happened so quick - like as long as it takes to blow out a candle - the leesh did its work but slightly pulled me to one side which resulted in me smashing into my shoulder - multiple fractures - If I had been hooked in with a quick release shackle or whatever it would not have helped - it happened so quick u gotta understand this - Man, If I'd been hooked in I doubt I'd be typing this - gonna rethink about my sanity from here on.

25-30 knts, lifeguard measured a gust coming through of about 50-60, I saw nothing coming across the water, it was like a speedboat line suddenly becoming taught! Kinda settles you down a bit to do some serious thinking

Sorry to hear about your accident. I hope you are healing well and quickly. Anti-lofting technqiue is critical in this sport particularly when sudden gusts come. Lofting seems to come in two varieties. Those that happen very fast and don't allow for reaction. Then those that are more spectacular, that come in high gusts in which you are flown along for while. You can hit hard to very hard in either case but the later type of lofting potentially can have very high speed impacts. More about anti-lofting technique apprears in:

Launching hooked in is convenient, allows you to fly a larger kite than you might otherwise but it does come at a price if you are hit by a sudden gust. You just paid that price unfortunately. It isn't real common but is common enough to discourage the practice in my opinion. I should release a sequence of photos in the next few days that present some ideas of how to avoid this sort of problem.

Even with successfully using anti-lofting technique you can still be dragged at high speed and exposed to serious injury. The only benefit is that when and if you sort out depowering your kite, you will still be on the ground. In a lofting you still have to free fall to impact after dealing with your kite, if you have time. The key in all of this is avoiding lofting and draggign conditions in the first place, i.e. squalls, excessively gusty winds, hooking in on launch, etc.

I too would like to learn more about the circumstances of your accident, things like the location, weather conditions, wind speed, estimated gust velocity, size kite, horizontal distance flown, what you hit, whether you were wearing an impact vest/helmet, etc. for a KSI account if you are amenable to this. Thanks for sharing the account of your experience.

Yeah, I'm still in shock and i'm a mad loonatic, I think I learnt a valuble lesson - I'll keep the kite low & pointing out to the water for as long as poss from now on - no more chillin on the beach with the monster at the Zenith. I'll be land based for a while now but u guys play safe out there!